# "You dont look \[\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ " how would you reapond? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 22, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593 "2013-03-22T01:04:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/41 "2013-03-22T17:44:14Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > I do get the “You don’t look Dutch” thing when I’m in the US, at times. I suppose it’s to do with the image of Northern-Europeans all being blond-haired and blue-eyed. And whilst I have dark blue eyes, my brown-with-gray hair probably doesn’t scream “Hansje Brinker”, or something. And I trust you aren’t wearing wooden shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/42 "2013-03-22T17:48:18Z")
Never whilst abroad. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/43 "2013-03-22T19:29:01Z")
not ethnicity, but, ‘you’re \*\*\*how \*\*\*old?!?!? you don’t look it.’ i just go with it. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/44 "2013-03-22T20:01:44Z")
> [@Scubaqueen](#): > > not ethnicity, but, ‘you’re \*\*\*how \*\*\*old?!?!? you don’t look it.’ > > i just go with it. 🆒 I found a foolproof way to get this all the time: get braces on your teeth as an adult. I suddenly started getting carded for cigarettes, again. And at work, I get “_You’re_ the manager?” so much more often it’s just not funny, anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/45 "2013-03-22T20:09:49Z")
I have a family member who seems.to for whatever ereason get the opposite…she gets the "you totally look " comments, sometimes they get it right and sometimes not. Whats funny is when they guessed wrong and she says “no actually im not” sometimes the person will in a goodnatured way kind of insist “but you really do look such and such” …as if shes mistaken about her own identity ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/46 "2013-03-22T20:17:50Z")
Why is it that.when you get the “but you dont look” comment it comes off as a negative as opposed to the “you totally look” version. Imo it has a rejecting or disbelieving or disapproving feel to it while being told one looks like such and such doesnt have that negative connotation to it. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/47 "2013-03-23T02:45:28Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Yea, but what if (like me) the person who says that IS Hispanic (so should know better)? And they’re still alive and with both ears in place? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/48 "2013-03-23T03:05:44Z")
“Oh, good. I’m on Witness Protection, and I’m supposed to leave all that behind me.” ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/49 "2013-03-23T03:05:48Z")
I let loose a string of curses in my Spanish enough to make grannies blush. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/50 "2013-03-23T03:55:57Z")
My wife and I were on a cruise down the Danube along with about 100 other guests from around the world. One of the other couples was a mixed marriage; he was white and she was Asian. While standing on deck one evening overlooking the river, the Asian lady asked me “Are you Chinese?” I said no, as I have no Asian relatives except my Japanese daughter-in-law. What is even more odd is that the lady looked either Chinese or Korean to me…but I didn’t ask. I just answered “No, I’m not” Go figure. ??? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/51 "2013-03-23T04:03:29Z")
Sort of the opposite of the OP, but related: When I was living in Japan in 1979, I got approached fairly often by local people who wanted to practice their English. Of course, they could tell I was foreign, but I wondered why they supposed that I was an English speaker (as opposed to German or French, which I might also have been, I thought, based on my appearance.) One fellow actually told me: Oh, I could tell you were American by your clothes. I was not quite sure how to take that. I didn’t wear what I thought of as stereotypical American clothes, whatever those might have been. Maybe it’s just because a European would have been more stylish. Anyway, nailed me in one. So to speak. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/52 "2013-03-23T04:47:51Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > “Oh, good. I’m on Witness Protection, and I’m supposed to leave all that behind me.” 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/53 "2013-03-23T11:41:43Z")
The closest I get is people telling me I don’t look that big. I take it as the compliment it is intended to be, and continue to wonder how you can be a certain size or weight and not look it. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/54 "2013-03-23T14:23:59Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > Why is it that.when you get the “but you dont look” comment it comes off as a negative… I guess I don’t see it as negative. I see it as being told I’m “unique” in some sense and don’t fit the stereotypical mold which I see as a good thing. Granted it could be negative (“Oh, you don’t LOOK like a ballet dancer, you’re so fat!”) but that’s nothing I’ve run into. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/55 "2013-03-23T19:05:49Z")
A few times, after telling people that I’m an engineer, I have been told I don’t look like one. I’ve always found it flattering. The ‘witness protection’ line is great - I may have to steal it. ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/56 "2013-03-23T19:48:23Z")
That is a good one, there have.been alot of good ideas for a comeback…my hands down favorite is " not since the accident"…if said with downcast eyes and a regretful shake of the head it should in.most cases shut the.person up ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/57 "2013-03-23T20:01:03Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Occasionally I get “you don’t look white” which is weird because I look super white, but I have really dark hair which some people apparently believe white people can’t have. I don’t know what to say but “um, oh” to that. Same when people say I don’t look/seem American, which has happened a few times. I have actually made a post about this annoyance, sometime in the last decade the world has officially decided that people with black hair are hispanic. I’ve had people argue to me that I am actually hispanic and I’m simply unaware of my heritage.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/58 "2013-03-23T20:17:17Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Sort of the opposite of the OP, but related: > > When I was living in Japan in 1979, I got approached fairly often by local people who wanted to practice their English. Of course, they could tell I was foreign, but I wondered why they supposed that I was an English speaker (as opposed to German or French, which I might also have been, I thought, based on my appearance.) > > One fellow actually told me: Oh, I could tell you were American by your clothes. > > I was not quite sure how to take that. I didn’t wear what I thought of as stereotypical American clothes, whatever those might have been. Maybe it’s just because a European would have been more stylish. > > Anyway, nailed me in one. So to speak. > Roddy Americans/Germans/Brits/Aussies look very different in both style and hair and tattoos and for those middle aged or older the differences just become more stark. Aussie middle aged men for example have a very distinct look of wearing high socks with dress shoes and cargo shorts and a slicked back hair style. Does every single middle aged man from Australia dress like that? No of course not, but watch enough and you notice patterns and even in unconventional dressers there are other clues you can notice. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/59 "2013-03-23T20:44:16Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I have actually made a post about this annoyance, sometime in the last decade the world has officially decided that people with black hair are hispanic. > > I’ve had people argue to me that I am actually hispanic and I’m simply unaware of my heritage.:smack: Tell that to all the people (inc. Hispanics) who say I don’t look Hispanic! And BTW, although it is mostly told “neutral” I find it usually offensive. And at least one, a “you don’t look like X” (I forgot what the X was), was meant as a compliment (and it wasn’t age-related). Huh…eh… still found it offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593/60 "2013-03-23T21:26:26Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Left the deerskin at home, did we, Sherlock? \[deerstalker](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P6RlRuIoG50/TwMZRAxL2VI/AAAAAAAAEF4/rLzsqKBMud4/s1600/deerstalker_500__13037.jpg)\ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-look-_______-how-would-you-reapond/653593.md?page=4)